Now a certain man was
ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet
with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a
message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard
it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for
God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after
having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the
place where he was.
Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us
go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were
just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus
answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during
the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But
those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.”
After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,
but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord,
if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been
speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely
to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake
I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to
him.” Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples,
“Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had
already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some
two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to
console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was
coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to
Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But
even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus
said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know
that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus
said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in
me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes
in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes,
Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming
into the world.”
When she had said this, she went back and called
her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is
calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to
him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the
place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house,
consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her
because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When
Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to
him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When
Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he
was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have
you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to
weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said,
“Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man
from dying?”
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the
tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take
away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him,
“Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.”
Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would
see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked
upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that
you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd
standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had
said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man
came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face
wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. John 11:1-45
It was snowing yesterday, although spring is here
It was a dark foreboding and dimly lit daytime
there was no promise of growth and greening
no incentive to get u0p and face the day.
The dampness brought on the creaking
bone against bone in this rapidly aging body
the little chores become mountains to climb
the desert weariness a constant companion.
Often prayer bent and wondering who listens
maybe if God had been here sooner I wouldn't
be bent in sitting and limping in my walking
I wouldn't be incapable of the things of youth.
Martha went and said why didn't you raise him
like Martha I cry why didn't you come sooner
the savoir comes a dwells and we forget him
we think there are no answers when silence descends.
My bones are dry and creaking and will be scattered
the end of our time comes when it comes, in time
so let us dance our awkward and joyous today
let us sing while we have breath and live.
It was snowing yesterday, although spring is here
It was a dark foreboding and dimly lit daytime
there was no promise of growth and greening
no incentive to get u0p and face the day.
The dampness brought on the creaking
bone against bone in this rapidly aging body
the little chores become mountains to climb
the desert weariness a constant companion.
Often prayer bent and wondering who listens
maybe if God had been here sooner I wouldn't
be bent in sitting and limping in my walking
I wouldn't be incapable of the things of youth.
Martha went and said why didn't you raise him
like Martha I cry why didn't you come sooner
the savoir comes a dwells and we forget him
we think there are no answers when silence descends.
My bones are dry and creaking and will be scattered
the end of our time comes when it comes, in time
so let us dance our awkward and joyous today
let us sing while we have breath and live.
1 comment:
And my bones cry AMEN!
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